Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said: “The Government’s cuts to the national police budget are already having an effect in London, with over 460 full time Met police officers lost since the General Election period.

“But I fear this is only the thin end of the wedge, with a 20 per cent cut to London’s police over the next four years that could see thousands of officers axed rather than protecting London’s streets.

“Labour committed to protecting frontline policing, but this Government is already hacking away at the frontline.”